That Still Small Voice
That Still Small Voice Episode Number: Season 1, Episode 5 Directed By: Paul Edwards Air Date: November 27, 2011 Previous Episode: The Price of Gold Next Episode The Shepherd "That Still Small Voice" is the fifth episode of the American fairytale/drama television series Once Upon a Time. The series takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, in which the residents are actually characters from various fairy tales that were transported to the "real world" town by a powerful curse. In this episode, Henry becomes upset when told by Archie that his fairy tale theories are delusions; Henry places himself in danger when he investigates a mysterious sinkhole, forcing a regretful Archie to save him. Meanwhile, the backstory of Jiminy Cricket is revealed – he yearns to leave his con artist parents and become a good person, but accidentally hurts an innocent couple along the way. It was the first Once Upon a Time episode to be written by consulting producer Jane Espenson, while being directed by Paul Edwards. Espenson was "thrilled" to be assigned the episode; Jiminy Cricket was typically a character that appeared in other people's stories, so she was eager to explore him in his own narrative. Espenson especially wanted to depict how someone, like Jiminy in this episode, "have their adolescence well after adolescence. It took Jiminy a long time to figure out how to get away from the life he was living, and I think a lot of people feel like that." In addition, the episode contained several cultural references to the television series Lost and the Disney film 101 Dalmatians. "That Still Small Voice" first aired in the United States on November 27, 2011, with the network ABC. An estimated 10.7 million viewers watched the episode, helping it finish in third place for its timeslot. "That Still Small Voice" finished in fourteenth place for the week among the major networks. Since then, it has garnered generally positive critical reviews. Many praised Espenson's screenwriting, as well as Jiminy's characterization and the performances of Sbarge and Robert Carlyle. Plot 'Opening Sequence' A straw spinning wheel is shown in the forest. 'Event Chronology' The Enchanted Forest flashback with a young Jiminy Cricket takes place while Jiminy is still a child and the flashbacks with an adult Jiminy, take place many years later, while Geppetto is just a child, several decades before the events of "Snow Drifts", where Geppetto has grown into an old man. The Storybrooke events of this episode occur after the events of "The Price of Gold". The episode also takes place after Emma's reunion with Ingrid in "Shattered Sight". 'In the Character's Past' In the Enchanted Forest, a young pickpocket named Jiminy desires the chance to be a good person, but is forced by his father and mother to participate in their cons. After he finishes collecting some stolen goods, Jiminy tells them that he desires to leave the family business. Unfortunately, as years go by, the now-adult Jiminy is still aiding his parents, who come up with excuses to keep him from leaving. He runs into a young boy who tells him to follow his conscience. One night, Jiminy pays a visit to see Rumpelstiltskin and is given a tonic that will set him free from his parents. Later that evening, Jiminy and his parents convince a couple to give up some goods in exchange for a tonic that will supposedly make them immune to a plague. He soon discovers that his father switched Rumpelstiltskin's tonic with the one they sold, and finds that the couple have been turned into dolls. Having realized what he has done, Jiminy makes a wish and receives an answer from The Blue Fairy, who shows up to give him his one true wish: becoming a cricket. Jiminy is also told that he has a chance to help someone in the future, starting with the young boy, who would grow up to be Geppetto. As for the cursed dolls, they end up as a collection at Mr. Gold's pawn shop. 'Storybrooke' In the present day, Dr. Archie Hopper continues to evaluate Henry, who is still trying to convince him that he is Jiminy. Meanwhile, Sheriff Graham officially makes Emma Swan his new deputy. An explosion soon after causes the town to shake, followed by a sinkhole that emerges at an abandoned mine shaft. As Emma, Henry, Archie, and the sheriff show up to see the damaged area, Regina arrives to try to keep everyone from going any further, then comes across a certain object which looks like an ornate piece of glass and puts it in her pocket. She is also not pleased with the sheriff hiring Emma, and also reminds Archie that she can have him fired and out on the streets if he fails to succeed in dissuading Henry of the veracity of the fairy tale stories. The next day, Archie follows through on Regina's warning by convincing Henry that the fairy tale stories are not real, upsetting Henry. This prompts Emma to pay a visit to Archie as she figures out that Regina was responsible for threatening him. Emma accuses Regina of threatening Archie, but Regina says that Henry is missing again. Archie conjectures that Henry may have gone back to the mine shaft. There, Henry begins to investigate the area and comes across a glass item similar to the one Regina found earlier that he puts into his backpack. Archie goes in to search for Henry and finds the boy, but as they try to escape, an aftershock blocks off the main entrance, leaving an injured Archie and Henry trapped. They find an elevator shaft, not knowing that above ground Emma and Regina have taken the suggestion of blasting the main entrance from Marco, which results in the elevator carrying Henry and Archie being lowered even further after the blast takes place. Inside the elevator, Henry asks Archie why he refuses to believe that he is Jiminy Cricket. Archie acknowledges that he might share Jiminy's personality and in a similar fashion to his alternative past, yearn to be free from being told what to do. Meanwhile, above ground, Emma finds the opening of the elevator shaft and volunteers to go down the shaft, where she succeeds in rescuing Henry and Archie. Archie tells Regina that he will continue to see Henry and that if she attempts to interfere he will take action against Regina and have her declared an unfit mother. Regina backs down after Archie's threat, she looks at the object she had in her pocket and throws it down the shaft, where it lands on top of the rest of Snow White's glass coffin. Concurrent with these events, Mary Margaret continues to visit the amnesiac David at the hospital. At the same time, Kathryn also continues to visit David, showing him pictures to jog his memory but later admits, although he claimed otherwise to Kathryn, to Mary Margaret that he doesn't remember anything that he saw in the pictures. As Mary Margaret notices David becoming more attracted to her, she still feels threatened by Kathryn's presence. This prompts Mary Margaret to submit her letter of resignation as a volunteer at the hospital. Cast Starring *Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard *Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan *Lana Parrilla as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills *Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan/Prince James *Eion Bailey as Pinocchio/August Booth *Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills *Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper *Jamie Dornan as The Huntsman/Sheriff Graham *Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold Guest Starring *Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood/Ruby *Keegan Connor Tracy as The Blue Fairy/Mother Superior *Anastasia Griffith as Princess Abigail/Kathryn Nolan *Tony Amendola as Geppetto/Marco *Harry Groener as Martin *Carolyn Hennesy as Myrna *Jarod Joseph as Gus/Billy *Luke Camilleri as Stephen *Laura Bertram as Donna Trivia Production Notes= *The opening title card features Rumplestiltskin's spinning wheel. *Emma asks Henry if Marco is Archie's father; even though Marco told her in the "Pilot" that he doesn't have any children. *The scene where the crickets are heard in Storybrooke for the first time, was originally slated to be a visual effect with crickets hopping at ground level, but the production crew decided to go for a sound effect instead. |-|Other Notes= FILMING LOCATION *The scene where Mary Margaret escorts David on a walk, was filmed in Burnaby's Deer Lake Park. *Donna and Stephen's cottage doubles as Ruth's farmhouse for the next episode, "The Shepherd". The architecture, the door, the wooden shutters, the brick pattern, the enclosure on the right side of the building, even the ladder propped up against the roof, are exactly the same. However, Donna and Stephen's thatched roof was replaced by roof tiles for the episode.